Camera RAW
What is an SRW file?
Updated Jul 2026
SRW (Samsung RAW) is the raw image format used by Samsung's own cameras, like the NX and GX series. It stores the unprocessed data straight off the camera's sensor, so it holds far more detail than a JPG. The tradeoff is that almost nothing outside a few editing programs can open it without converting first.
- Extension
- .srw
- Type
- Camera RAW
- Typically
- Samsung cameras
- Metadata
- Carries EXIF
Why SRW exists
SRW comes from Samsung's line of mirrorless and compact system cameras. When the camera captures a photo, it can save the raw sensor data instead of processing it into a finished JPG. That raw file is the SRW.
Because nothing has been baked in yet, an SRW file keeps the full range of light and color the sensor recorded. That gives you far more room to adjust exposure, white balance, and shadows after the fact than a JPG allows, since a JPG has already thrown away that extra data to save space.
The catch is that raw formats are proprietary to the camera maker, and Samsung stopped making cameras in 2015. Support for SRW has never been wide, and it keeps getting thinner as fewer programs bother updating for it. Most people run into SRW when they pull old photos off a Samsung camera and find their phone, a website, or a newer editor won't open them at all.
Converting to JPG or TIFF is usually the fix: JPG for viewing and sharing, TIFF if you still want a high quality, unprocessed image without the format headache.
The trade-offs
Strengths
- Captures the full detail and dynamic range the sensor recorded
- Gives much more flexibility for editing exposure and color later
- Nothing is discarded or compressed the way a JPG does
Watch-outs
- Barely supported outside a handful of editing programs
- Samsung stopped making cameras, so support is fading, not growing
- Large file size compared to JPG
- Needs converting before you can view or share it almost anywhere
A note on privacy
An SRW file carries EXIF metadata, including the camera settings and often the GPS location where the photo was taken. Upload it to an online converter and that data, along with the full-resolution image, sits on someone else's server. Converting it on your own machine keeps the photo and everything attached to it right where it started.
Questions
How do I open a SRW file?
You'll need a program with raw support built in, and even then Samsung's raw format isn't as widely handled as more common ones. Converting it to JPG or TIFF is the simplest way to open and view it almost anywhere.
Is SRW better than JPG?
For editing, yes: it holds far more detail and gives you room to fix exposure or color after the shot. For actually viewing or sharing a photo, no: JPG opens everywhere and SRW mostly doesn't.
Why does my Samsung camera save photos as SRW?
If the camera was set to shoot raw, it saves the unprocessed sensor data instead of a finished image, which preserves more detail but leaves you with a file few things can open.
Can I convert SRW without uploading it?
Yes. A desktop app like Morphjet converts SRW on your own computer, so the image and any location or camera data attached to it never leave your machine.
Will I lose quality converting SRW to JPG?
Some, since JPG compresses the image. Converting to TIFF instead keeps the quality intact if you want an unprocessed file that's still easier to open than SRW.
Morphjet opens and converts SRW and 1,800+ other formats, all on your own computer. Launching this July.